Take me off this damn planet
by Guiron94
Summary: Rand doesn't know why he's on Jakku, no one seems to know why they are there. The Stormtroopers are in for a world of hurt.


Take Me Off This Damn Planet

1

"Take me off this damn planet" thought Rand as he cradled his blaster close to his chest, he'd only been on Jakku for a week and he already wanted to leave. Rand could never abide the heat, he always hated campaigns on desert planets, wasn't this sort of op the Sandtroopers job? Why was he even there? The Emperor was dead, the second Death Star destroyed, and the Empire in tatters. But no, he had been dragged to a barely hospitable ball of dust for a reason he or no one else could fathom.

The atmosphere on Jakku was bleak, orders were becoming increasingly erratic and tensions ran high. Those who had the "honour" of being garrisoned on Jakku were given a balanced diet of brutality and fear, officers subjected their troops to long and arduous marches through the arid Jakku desert, it seemed less and less troops returned from each march. Returning to base gave the troops little relief from the Hell that was Jakku, particularly brutal officers would force troopers to brawl, the slightest infraction was punished ruthlessly ranging from beatings to public humiliation. Rand had no idea why he was there, but all he did know was that he wanted out.

Cradling his blaster gave him some comfort at least, ever since he arrived on Jakku he found he had been keeping his blaster as close as possible to his person. The camp was unusually quiet, he knew he should be grateful for the peace but in his years as a stormtrooper he had discovered that peace rarely lasted long. In the peace, Rand had drifted off to sleep, which for him had become increasingly rare but he welcomed any opportunity to rest. With a sharp kick to his stomach Rand was awoken, he gazed above him and saw his squad Sergeant looming over him. Sergeant Currvic cut an intimidating figure, he towered over his troops and had a face mapped with scars of a thousand battles and campaigns. Currvic seldom smiled but on the rare occasion he did it was enough to make even his own men's blood run cold.

"Congratulations Rand." Sneered Currvic. "Looks like you just volunteered for reconnaissance."

"Yes sergeant!" Rand exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. "If I can ask sergeant, who am I going with?

"Megenl." Currvic said with immense pleasure. "Got a problem with that Rand?"

"No sergeant" Replied Rand

"Good, report for briefing in 10 minutes." Ordered Currvic

"Sithspit." Rand thought to himself, he always hated Megenl. Megenl was one of those men who enjoyed his work far too much, and Currvic was aware of Rand's distaste for him. Rand didn't dare question the Sergeant though, he wasn't in the mood for a beating today although being with Megenl for too long couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't get one.

Rand placed his helmet on his head and prepared himself for the briefing. His hair was starting to grow out, so the helmet was becoming warmer than usual, Rand was starting to think being on Jakku was a punishment for some reason or another. On his way to the briefing he found another stormtrooper slumped down asleep in the shade, the stormtrooper was named Cav. Cav was a genial sort, generally liked by the others and a natural at raising morale within the ranks. He had been born in the shadow of the docks of Corellia before joining the Stormtrooper Corps, and after hearing enough spacers stories of galactic daring do, he had joined up like many others with the promise of galactic adventures. He was the closest thing had Rand had to a friend on Jakku, the squad had lost many throughout the war, so friendships were often short-lived. Cav was all that Rand had left to keep him grounded.

"Hey Cav?" Asked Rand.

"What is it man?" Replied Cav not even opening his eyes.

"I got recon with Megenl, any advice?"

"What Currvic put you with Megenl? Man Currvic really has it in for you. Well…uh… just keep out of his way, I guess? You know what sort of guy he is." Cav said as he leaned forward. "Just don't let him kill ya ok?"

"Thanks, I'll try not to…"

Rand arrived at the camp's briefing room, it was pretty ramshackle at this point, the structure itself had been brought in by shuttle but was clearly not in fantastic shape for one the sand was already blowing into it and the cooling system within it was prone to breaking down. Rand walked inside to find Currvic and Megenl ready for him. Megenl was a beast of a man, the only man in the squad who dwarfed Currvic, some say he was as strong as a Wookie and had a temper to match. Currvic liked Megenl, he was always first to volunteer for the most dangerous actions and willing to go the extra mile in terms of violence. Megenl wasn't well liked by most of the squad but few would ever say that to his face if they wanted to keep that face afterwards. Megenl unlike everyone else in the squad was very much within his element at Jakku, he had little time for cowardice or malingering and was more than willing to give out a beating to anyone who he felt deserved one.

"Nice of you to join us Rand, now on with the briefing." Said Currvic.

Currvic activated the hologram projector at the centre of the room, a blue flickering holomap emanated from the projector.

"I want the pair of you to recon 26 klicks south of here, we have some intel that the locals maybe planning something. If you see anything suspicious report back on your commlink immediately with positions, numbers etc. Any questions?"

"What if the locals get cocky?" Grinned Megenl.

"Then fire with extreme prejudice." Currvic said coldly. "Any questions Rand?"

"Err… no Sergeant."

"Excellent, Megenl you're in charge. Rand, don't do anything stupid out there."

"No problem Sergeant, me and Rand'll be just fine." Sneered Megenl said pulling rand into him with the force of an angry rancor.

Rand knew this recon was going to kill him…


End file.
